Comments on: Good news for the M’s

By: IdahoInvader

IdahoInvader — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 23:06:03 +0000

As a die hard OSU Beaver fan, I’d like to thank those that took time out of their day to poke fun at Oregon’s ghastly uni’s which are only matched in their hideousness by the Lee and Soriano bloated contracts.

By: lisa gray

lisa gray — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 03:12:45 +0000

#38

dude,
signing carlos lard for 6 years at 17 mill a year was bad. b-a-d BAD. unless they really only care about the first 2 or 3 and are writing off the rest as lost money and an excuse to not spend more because there is no “flexibility” we’re gonna be sorry for a long time. the lee contract is the stupidest one of the year by a LONG shot. and you talking to a devout astros fan here you know… and i was laughing at the cubs for paying soriano for 8 years. well, shut my mouth…

as for beltran

i’m REAL touchy on that subject just like every stros fan not in the media. that SOB didn’t never mean to sign with houston. he had a contract for a book called “my first year in pinstripes” before new years day, when the stros front office was still trying to see him and boras was making excuses to keep us away while begging the yankees to sign him to a below market contract. then they came up with that lame **** about a no trade AFTER beltran had already agreed to play with the mets. so please don’t tell me it was about no money in houston. he wanted to go to new york. period. gerry hunsicker had him all figured out and mclane was too dumb to listen.

anyhow dave,

look at sexon like this – at least you CAN trade him. but to baltimore? the organization that turned down lidge, everett, ensberg and burke, yeah ALL of em, for miguel tejada???!!! who needs a 1B with his stats who is gonna pay that kind of money? well, actually, the giants!!! and i think richie is old enough to play there now…

and honest i am not no hypocrite for writing about what the players are wirth. i guess carlos lard IS “worth” more than lance berkman for the simple reason that he found a dumdum willing to pay him. and oh yes i know he will almost certainly not be worth half of that in a few years

By: jeffs98119

jeffs98119 — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 23:00:00 +0000

How about Sexson and Soriano for Manny? Would Boston bite?

By: Colorado M's Fan

Colorado M's Fan — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 22:48:28 +0000

#98, I believe you are refering to the Sexson Albatross thread posted almost two weeks ago? The thread does a good job explaining why Sexson is a poor value, but it does not outline players that would put up at least Sexson’s on field performance (850 OPS, or 3 wins or whatever) that are available and cheap and easy to get. I’m not suggesting they do not exist, but I would really like to see a list of realistic possibilities there.

I would like to unload Sexson’s contract like most of you. I just don’t want to downgrade the 2007 team to do it.

By: Jon Wells

Jon Wells — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 20:22:29 +0000

Nah, instead of bigtime moves, the Mariners today signed Willie F Blooqmuist to a contract extension, locking him up for 2008. Yeah, we were all worried they’d let the scrappy utilityman get away…

By: AK1984

AK1984 — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 17:28:56 +0000

Instead of trading Richie Sexson to the Baltimore Orioles or the San Francisco Giants for a couple of above-average pitching prospects, I’d rather see Bill Bavasi attempt to deal Sexson and Jarrod Washburn to the New York Yankees — without the Yankees receiving any monetary compesation from the M’s, of course — for nothing more than left fielder Melky Cabrera.

Subsequently thereafter, Bavasi should attempt to trade Ben Broussard to the O’s for starting pitcher Rodrigo Lopez; Lopez would undoubtedly bolster the M’s currently undermanned rotation. Furthermore, in lieu of either Sexson and Broussard at first base, the M’s could sign a defensively apt, yet offensively inept player like Doug Mientkiewicz to one-year, $2,000,000 contract.

With all things considered, those’d be a set of shrewd, cost-efficient moves.

By: colm

colm — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 09:27:55 +0000

How about Jeremy Reed’s performance?

By: Tap House Dan

Tap House Dan — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 08:06:44 +0000

Whatever happened to an impending Reed deal?

By: bookbook

bookbook — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 07:52:12 +0000

+Itâ€™s like telling someone who wants to buy a BMW â€œBMWâ€™s are overpriced, you should buy a cheaper oneâ€. But there ARE NO cheaper ones, so if they want a BMW they will have to pay what the â€œmarket will bearâ€.+
He’s right. Players are paid exactly their market value. Every time. It’s a tautology.
However, if you tell someone who wants to buy a BMW, “BMWs are too expensive. You can get the same great handling, mileage, and driving experience for far less by buying a Lexus,” you’re sharing useful information. Does your friend want to buy the BMW or the excellent driving experience?
As a fan, I hope my team’s management is buying future wins. I believe that the Astros, Dodgers, and Angels paid much much more for the future wins represented by Lee, Pierre, and Matthews than those wins cost to acquire by other means – even as the average cost per win rises throughout the majors in the years to come.
Could I be so far wrong about the future cost of wins? Wrong enough that Lee and Soriano’s (and Sexson’s) contracts are worthwhile? Possibly. Wrong enough that Pierre and Matthews’ contracts are worthwhile? Not unless the major league minimum salary is raised to 6 or 7 million.

On another tangent. Companies do pay premiums for smaller companies which they attribute to “Goodwill.” Two points about that.
1) The acquiring company believes it can convert that goodwill into revenues in the not-too-long-term (or else they wouldn’t bother).
2) Acquiring companies as a group consistently underperform the market in the several years after making their acquisition (they’re evidently wrong more often than they’re right about the fungibility of the goodwill purchased).

I’d love to see the M’s trade Sexson and Washburn. I don’t think it’s very likely.

By: eponymous coward

eponymous coward — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 07:18:42 +0000

So, everyone who says that the M’s need to sign someone to a stupidtastic deal:

How many playoff appearances have Chan Ho Park or Mike Hampton brought their teams? Darren Deifort? Jeff Cirillo? Hell, even A-Rod hasn’t exactly been money for his teams- and his deal was actually justifable at the time (if not so justifiable now as he’s gone from All-Universe SS to “eh’ 3B).

Teams need to make astute trades AND astute FA signings to contend. It’s very difficult to make astute signings in a market where people are being stupid with their money (keep in mind that our big FA signing in the 2000-2001 offseason, while everyone else was being insanely stupid with their cash, was Bret Boone, for ONE YEAR- a deal many people panned at the time, plus getting Ichiro for a reasonable contract as part of his bid). All Dave is suggesting is we should zig if everyone else is zagging if we want to tap undervalued potential…and hanging back from signings in this market is the best way to do that.

I suspect Kei Igawa might be on our list, who’d make me pretty happy compared to the Lilly/Eaton/Meche axis (younger and likely to be better). Maybe him, Schmidt, and we flip Sexson for crab dip and pull in Manny (do they eat crab dip in Boston?). I’d be thrilled with that and would call it good.